Vegan Irish Soda Scones

Last year around this time, after I baked a whopping 9 loaves of Irish soda bread, my friend Heather asked me whether I could help her fix a recipe for vegan Irish soda scones she had gotten from one of her vegetarian magazines. She'd been looking forward to finally trying a vegan version of Irish soda bread, only to be disappointed by the dense hockey pucks made by that recipe.

Rather than try to doctor a crappy recipe, I thought a better starting point would be the winning recipe from last year's baking marathon, Irene Sullivan's Irish Soda Bread. To make it vegan, I followed online instructions to make a vegan version of buttermilk by curdling soy milk with vinegar, replaced the stick of butter with vegan buttery spread, and substituted the eggs with some Ener-G egg replacer. Instead of making one loaf of bread, I formed the dough into 8 healthy-sized 'scones' per Heather's request. And no, these babies weren't made using the traditional scone technique, where cold butter is painstakingly cut into the flour until the mixture resembles course crumbs. When it comes to baking, I prefer to use the 'throw everything in the bowl and mix' method!

But how good could these taste without real buttermilk, eggs or butter?

"Pretty darn good!" says hubby Kris.

Vegan Irish Soda Scones (adapted from Irene Sullivan’s Irish Soda Bread)
Printable Version

Servings: 8 healthy-sized scones

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder (double acting)
1 cup vanilla soy milk
2 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
4 oz or 1 stick of vegan butter (ie. Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
3 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
4 Tablespoons warm water
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon caraway seeds
1 cup (about 5 oz) of currants

Equipment: Baking sheet pan or cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Position rack in the center of the oven.

Make vegan buttermilk by mixing soy milk with vinegar. Let mixture stand for a few minutes until it curdles.

Soften vegan butter by microwaving for 8-10 seconds. Don’t over microwave; you want it softened, not melted. Set aside.

Combine all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder) in a large mixing bowl. Stir with a fork to quickly distribute ingredients. Set aside.

Prepare Ener-G egg replacer by mixing with warm water (equivalent to 2 eggs).

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add vegan buttermilk, softened vegan butter, Ener-G egg replacer, vegetable oil, caraway seeds and currants. Mix everything with your hands until ingredients are evenly distributed and moistened (about 2-3 minutes). Do not over mix. Batter will be slightly wet. Drop 8 rounded portions of the batter on to prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees F. Don’t worry if some of the scones expand while baking and merge with each other, they will break apart easily later on. Test doneness by inserting a toothpick – it should come out clean.

Serve warm with strawberry preserves and vegan buttery spread.

Happy St. Patrick's Day :)
ps. This is my submission to The Daily Spud's Paddy's Day Food Parade

Vegan Irish Soda Scones